Should Turner Have Credited A Volcano?

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The British seascape artist Turner said his painting was not to be analyzed but "to show what such a view was like". The superb dramatic sunset canvas prints of Joseph Turner were more than just artistic license - they in fact captured the impact of volcanic eruptions that caused shifts in the Earth’s climate. Experts have looked at the dramatic sunsets produced by JMW turner and other masters to figure out the cooling impact of giant volcanic eruptions.

A committed team of scientists studied the paintings of old masters like JMW Turner and Rembradt to assess the quantity of actual pollution spewed into the sky. The geological archives of eruptions in Mount Tambora, Indonesia, in 1815, and Mount Krakatoa in 1883 among others had been inspected. The eruptions distributed a blanket of dirt and chemicals around the planet and sent overall temperatures tumbling, resulting in failing crops as well as numerous famines.

News reports from the time describe beautiful sunsets for some years afterwards, as the thinning brightness was spread by clouds of particles distributed high in to the atmosphere. By inspecting the application of color of sunset canvas art produced before and following these kinds of eruptions, the experts assert they have the capability to estimate the level of material in the air when they were painted.

The experts asserted that the redder landscapes noticed in canvas prints "can be tentatively attributed to the volcanic eruptions, as opposed to abnormalities in the color degradation attributable to age, or further indiscriminate elements affecting every artist’s colour depiction". The experts went over the ratio of red and other colours in the sky to assess the amount of particles in the air produced by each volcano. Their findings, the scientists claim, are remarkably alike to estimates taken from historical observations in addition to analysis of evidence found in ice cores. For this reason it may be said that we wouldn’t enjoy such an outstanding tradition of sunset canvas art in a world without volcanoes.